Export thread

January 21st, 2011 is the last episode of Countdown to be shown on MSNBC.MSNBC and Keith Olbermann surprise most by announcing that they are ending their contract after tonight's show.

I just saw that and came to post it. It'll be interesting to see what's really going on.

My guess is it was a Comcast decision.

MSNBC spokesdrone predictably says this isn't the case. Right.

Bua ha ha, right. And Keith suddenly said "Shit, I hate working and having a show, I should convince my bosses we should part ways". Color me unconvinced.

I hope he jumps to another network. At least I can almost disown MSNBC.

what?

She's the best thing on that channel. Her interview with Michael Steele was a blast to watch last night. Honestly, I dug the guy.

Krisken said:

Bua ha ha, right. And Keith suddenly said "Shit, I hate working and having a show, I should convince my bosses we should part ways". Color me unconvinced.

Click to expand...

He has done that twice before, once with ESPN and once with MSNBC (before this time). Not saying that there aren't shenanigans, just saying that given past history, it's not exactly unprecedented.

Best guess? After Comcast forced out Jeff Zucker, who was supposedly Olbermann's patron, Olbermann decided to get out while the going was good instead of fighting to renew a contract under terms he didn't want. It's not like he'll have employment problems.

Rumor is he is leaving of his own accord and wants to start his own website not unlike Huffington Post. I may owe Comcast an apology

John Sterling's and Suzyn Waldman's contracts with the Yankees are both up after this coming season. One or the other (or both) might be... encouraged... to take an early exit.

What he really needs to do is start a channel that's as rabid as Fox News... if anyone can match them in vitriol it's him (worst person segment is a good start).

KO's best contribution to MSNBC was Rachel Maddow. He's a useless twit.

I don't know if I would quite go as far as useless, but he definitely sank lower than he needed to.

Plus, the "I'm the spiritual successor to Edward R. Murrow" schtick got annoying real fast.

Can his spot be replaced with more Rachel Maddow? I might watch more if they did that.

I think they said Lawrence O'Donnell is moving into that slot with his show and Ed Schultz is behind that (or something). So no, we don't get more Rachel Maddow, though I agree it would be good to have her on longer.